Each Day an Adventure

Sawadee from Chiang Mai!

Each day has been an adventure. We had a wonderful time on Ko Tao, which is a small island on the Gulf of Thailand (the east side). The island is hilly, and strewn with big boulders of all shapes and sizes. From a distance, the island is covered in palm trees and scattered bungalows overlooking the sea.

Ko Tao from the boat

Although the beaches were small and forgettable, the coral reef around the island was superb! Imagine an underwater garden of coral. Some are big and round and look like a brain, some are feathery and branched and look like plants. There is so much variety in color, shape, size, and texture, and that's just the coral. The fish are also abundant, and again, so many different kinds. There are eels, sharks, manta rays, and dolphins. It's biodiversity at it's finest!

The highlight of our trip was taking a "discovery" scuba diving trip, which means you learn the basics of diving, first in a pool and then out in the open water with a guide. We didn't have the time or money to do the whole scuba course, so this was perfect. I personally was pretty scared. I am not the most comfortable person in the water in the first place, and even snorkelling has given me a fright at times. But, I was determined to try something new, and Ko Tao is a great place to experience diving (they issue more PADI certifications than anywhere in the world, besides in Cairns). During the pool training, we learned to breathe into our regulators, clear our masks, equalize our ears, and become bouyant (which basically means you aren't sinking or floating). Then we hit the open water....

We first took a boat to the north end of the island, and after putting on about 50 pounds of gear, we got into the water by falling straight back off the boat. You are supposed to hold your regulator and goggles, and that's why I look like such a dork. You use a vest that you can pump up with air to float, or deflate to sink. Next, we swam over to a shallow area to begin. When we first started to sink into the water, breathing through our regulators, it felt so unnatural and I started to panic a bit. Another girl we were with totally panicked, and decided she couldn't go on with it. But I calmed down and slowly got used to the strange feeling of breathing underwater. We slowly made our way deeper into the water, equalizing our ears along the way. When we made it to the coral reef, I forgot my worries and was amazed at the world that exists under the sea. It was gorgeous and so much fun to swim amongst the fish. It was a totally new experience for me, and I loved it! It is sure to be one of the major highlights of our entire trip. We decided to pay extra and do another dive in a different area called the Japanese Gardens. We spent 45 minutes underwater, and this time could just explore and enjoy our time.

In the following days we continued to explore the island by foot, and found an isolated cove where we went snorkelling. There, Drew saw dolphins underwater!!!! I think that has to be one of the coolest animals to see, especially from under the surface. We also enjoyed eating fresh seafood each evening. The fishermen go out during the day and cook up whatever they caught that evening, over a grill. Restaurants on the beach have a lively BBQ atmosphere and for our last dinner on Ko Tao we ate a delicious fillet of tuna for about $5 each.


The coral around Ko Tao is a true gem as far as ecosystems go, but you can also see that it is being destroyed by the boats and other human activity. Again we are reminded of how people effect these beautiful places, and I feel a bit guilty for being part of the tourism that puts stress on the environments we visit. In the end, we do our best to try and keep our footprint small.

After spending about three weeks beach-hopping, we made our way up to Chiang Mai. To get here, we took a boat from Ko Lipeh, a bus to the train station in Chumphon on the mainland, an overnight train to Bangkok, and then another train to Chiang Mai. It was going smoothly, despite the many hours of sitting, until our train to Chiang Mai stopped in it's tracks. There was a problem with the engine, and we started to imagine ourselves stranded there for another night. Luckily, the train eventually kept chugging down the track, but instead of getting into the city at 8:30 pm, we got in at 11 pm, absolutely exhausted. Oh, the joys of travel!

Now that we are in Chiang Mai, we are enjoying the city. It is a unique place, a walled and moated city, with over 120 temples (wats). It's small enough to walk around by foot, yet dynamic and modern. Although we set out each day to see certain wats, we would come upon many different ones on our way. They are beautiful, highly decorated and ornate buildings. Inside there are intricate paintings and always a large golden Buddha and sometimes many statues. The grounds are always well-manicured and often there are monks walking around. It's quite breathtaking and interesting to learn about Buddhism (although there is much we don't understand). On the grounds of one Wat, there were signs along the trees giving advice on how to live your life. This is one Drew thought he needed reminding from:

Tomorrow we will head into the mountains to a town called Pai for a few nights. There are many hill-tribes around the area, as well as hiking trails and waterfalls. Then we head over the border into Laos for a river trip down the Mekong! We're looking forward to it!

p.s. we've added many more photos to Drew's last post, and I added a link to the Thai ebook on my last post, check it out!

Erin